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US retail imports to surge ahead of December tariffs: NRF

10 Oct '19
3 min read
Pic: Shutterstock
Pic: Shutterstock

Imports at the major retail container ports in the US are expected to hit their highest level of the year again in November just before more tariffs take effect in December, according to the Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. November imports are projected to increase 8.9 per cent year-on-year.

“This is the last chance to bring merchandise into the country before virtually everything the United States imports from China comes under tariffs,” NRF vice president for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “Retailers are doing all they can to mitigate the impact of tariffs on their customers. The effect on prices will vary by retailer and product during the holiday season, but ultimately these taxes on America businesses and consumers will result in higher prices.”

New 15 per cent tariffs on a wide range of consumer goods from China took effect at the beginning of September and are scheduled to be expanded to additional goods on December 15 – covering a total of about $300 billion in imports. In addition, 25 per cent tariffs on $250 billion worth of imports already imposed over the past year are scheduled to increase to 30 per cent on October 15.

“Let there be no doubt, US trade policies and enforcement mechanisms have directly caused a global slowdown in economic growth,” Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said. Nonetheless, imports are continuing to grow as retailers bring merchandise into the country ahead of tariffs. “The strength of retail consumption will push any meaningful slowdown in imports into next year, when the full impact of the tariff wars will be translated into a consumption tax felt by consumers.”

US ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.97 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) in August, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 0.2 per cent from July and up 3.9 per cent year-over-year, and was the second-highest number of containers imported during any month of the year after last October’s record of 2 million.

Numbers dipped in September as new tariffs took effect, coming in at an estimated 1.9 million TEU, up 1.6 per cent year-over-year. October is forecast at 1.93 million, down 5.1 per cent from last year’s record volume. November is forecast at 1.97 million TEU, which would be up 8.9 per cent year-over-year and tie August as the second-highest number of containers in a single month. But imports will fall to 1.78 million TEU in December, down 9.3 per cent year-over-year. The expected drop from November will come as December’s tariffs take effect, but the month historically sees a falloff in imports because most holiday merchandise has already arrived by that point.

The first half of 2019 totaled 10.5 million TEU, up 2.1 per cent over the first half of 2018, and 2019 is expected to see a new record of 22 million TEU. That would be up 1.2 per cent from last year’s previous record of 21.8 million TEU, the report said.

January 2020 is forecast at 1.86 million TEU, down 1.9 per cent from January 2019. February – traditionally the slowest month of the year because of Lunar New Year factory shutdowns in Asia – is forecast at 1.59 million TEU, down 1.8 per cent from a year ago.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)

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